In a truly disheartening turn of events, Farah, a 21-year-old gay woman who sought asylum in the United States after enduring brutal family violence in Morocco, has been deported by the Trump administration back to her home country, as reported by Associated Press. She’s now living in hiding, her hopes for freedom utterly crushed, despite a U.S. immigration judge’s order protecting her from deportation.
Being gay in Morocco isn’t just frowned upon; it’s illegal and carries a potential three-year prison sentence. For Farah, however, the threat wasn’t just legal. Her family, along with her partner’s family, discovered their relationship and subjected her to severe beatings. She was kicked out of her home, fled to another city with her partner, but her family found her again and even tried to kill her.
Through a friend, Farah and her partner learned about an opportunity to get visas for Brazil. They flew there, intending to make their way to the U.S. where they had friends. From Brazil, Farah undertook an arduous journey, trekking through six different countries for weeks to reach the U.S. border. “You get put in situations that are truly horrible,” she recalled of her journey. “When we arrived, it felt like it was worth the trouble and that we got to our goal.”
They arrived in early 2025, hoping for a new life where Farah could finally be herself without fear
Instead of freedom, she spent nearly a year detained, first in Arizona and then in Louisiana. She described the detention as “very cold,” noting they had only thin blankets. Medical care was also inadequate, she said. While her asylum claim was denied, an incredible moment of hope arrived in August when a U.S. immigration judge issued a protection order, ruling she absolutely could not be deported to Morocco because her life would be in danger. Her partner, unfortunately, was denied both asylum and a protection order, and was subsequently deported.
Just three days before a scheduled hearing for her release, Farah was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She was put on a plane to Cameroon, an African country she had never visited and where homosexuality is also illegal. She was held in a detention facility there. “They asked me if I wanted to stay in Cameroon, and I told them that I can’t stay in Cameroon and risk my life in a place where I would still be endangered,” she said. From there, she was flown directly back to Morocco.
Farah’s is one of dozens of people confirmed by the Trump administration to have been deported to third countries, even though U.S. immigration judges had granted them legal protection. The actual number is likely higher, but remains unknown. The administration has openly used these “third-country deportations” as a tactic to pressure undocumented migrants to leave on their own, stating they could end up “in any number of third countries.”
Immigration lawyer Alma David, who has helped other deportees and verified Farah’s case, calls this practice a legal “loophole.” She points out that by deporting individuals to a third country and denying them the chance to contest being sent to a place that will likely return them to danger, the U.S. not only violated their due process rights and its own immigration laws, but also international treaty obligations and even the Department of Homeland Security’s own procedures.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed these deportations, stating, “We are applying the law as written. If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period.” They maintained that these agreements “ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution.”
Farah was one of two women from the initial group of deportees who ended up back in Morocco. Lawyer David said they were presented with “impossible choices,” and claiming asylum wasn’t clearly offered as an option before lawyers could even access them. Now, Farah lives in fear. “It is hard to live and work with the fear of being tracked once again by my family,” she shared. “But there is nothing I can do. I have to work.”
Published: Feb 23, 2026 12:00 pm